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Falun Gong Protests Broken Up On Anniversary Of Crackdown

July 20, 2000|By From Tribune News Services.

BEIJING, CHINA — Police swiftly broke up scattered Falun Gong protests early Thursday, punching some of the protesters and dragging them into vans on the first anniversary of the crackdown on the meditation group.

About 67 people were rounded up in Tiananmen Square. Most demonstrated individually or in small groups, sitting in the lotus position or raising their arms in an O-shape, a popular meditation pose for the sect.

Thursday's display showed that one of China's biggest political campaigns in years may have thinned the resilient group's ranks but has failed to wipe out the movement.

The protests took place between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., when thousands of schoolchildren were visiting the square, one of Beijing's most popular tourist sites. Such protests have become routine in the past year, and police, who frequently use violence in the roundups, have become efficient at arresting and hauling away the protesters.

On Thursday, some protesters who weren't cooperating with police were punched in the chest, stomach and face.

The government has branded Falun Gong an unprecedented threat to Communist rule and accused the group of cheating followers and causing 1,500 deaths, mostly of followers it maintains refused medical treatment in accordance with what it claims are the group's teachings.